Flash-light.



E. A. WHITFIELD.

FLASH LIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. ef, 1909.

Patented Mar. 15, 1916.

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HARRY A. WHITFIELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FLASH-LIGHT.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

Application led February 6, 1909. Serial No. 476,363.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. "WHIT- FIELD, a citizen of the United.States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, inthe county and State of New York, have invented a new and TmprovedFlash-Light, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to flash lights such as used by photographers intaking flash light pictures.

The object of the invention is to produce a flash light having improvedmeans for holding and exploding a cartridge or flash powder, andfurther, to provide a construction which will enable the device to beused also for supporting and firing flash papers or flash sheets.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan of the device; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the device,showing the shaft thereof and the trigger in cross section; Fig. 3 is aside elevation and partial longitudinal section of the device, furtherillustrating the details of its construction; Fig. 4 is a verticalsection taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, this view illustratingespecially the means for supporting and igniting a flash sheet, and Fig.5 is a fragmentary view showing the device provided with a base enablingit to stand upon the camera or a similar support.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the shaft orstick of the device which is a short round bar, to the upper end ofwhich a ferrule 2 is attached. On the upper end of the shaft a bolt 3 isattached, having a tee-head 4, and this tee-head is adapted to passthrough a transverse slot 5 formed in the middle of the pan or holder 6.This pan or holder is adapted to be made of sheet steel or similarmaterial, and is elon gated, as shown. The middle portion of the pan isenlarged so as to form a substantially circular pocket 7 which isadapted to receive a cartridge or flash powder. In this way the pan 6 ismade to present arms 8 which se extend in opposite directions from thepocket 7. On the central axis of the pan, and at the junction of one ofthe arms 8 with the pocket 7, a cap seat 9 is formed. At the point wherethis cap seat is formed, an opening 10 is made through the bottom of thepan. This opening is of substantially circular form and is divided by atransverse bar 11 which extends longitudinally with respect to the pan,as shown. This bar 11 is depressed or offset upwardly with respect tothe bottom of the pan for a purpose which will appear more fullyhereinafter.

In the under' side of the pan, adjacent to the cap seat, there isprovided a keeper or cap holder 12 which is in the form of a leafspring, attached by a pivot pin 13 to the under side of the pan. Theouter end of this leaf spring is formed into an upwardly projectingfinger 14 which engages the cap seat. This keeper 12 tends by itsresiliency to hold the upper end of the finger 14 against the seat andthe keeper may readily be drawn downwardly so as to enable a cap 15 tobe placed on the under side of the seat, as indicated in Fig. 3. Theiinger 14 will then engage the cap and retain it in position. As shownin Fig. 4, the finger 14 tapers upwardly to the point which engages thecap.

On the same arm of the pan, beyond the point of attachment of the keeper12, a hammer 16 is attached by a pivot pin 17. This hammer is also ofresilient material and normally extends longitudinally of the pan, itsextremity lying near the position of the cap. Near its extremity it isoffset upwardly so as to form a rudimentary head 18 which normally restsagainst the under side of the keeper 12 near the finger 14; beyond thispoint the hammer is formed into a proj ecting lip 19. This lip isadapted to be engaged by a projecting finger 2O which is formed on theupper end of a trigger 21. This trigger is attached by means of a screwor bolt 22 to the side of the stick 1, the said bolt passing through aslot 23 formed longitudinally in the trigger, as shown. The lower end ofthis trigger is bent laterally so as to form a handle 24 which isadapted to be seized so as to pull the 'trigger downwardly. As indicatedin Fig. 4, the lip 19 is bent so as te form a shallow Vshaped gutter,and the finger 2() is similarly bent as to lit this gutter. Thisarrangement tends to prevent the trigger from becoming dislodged fromthe lip of the hammer when engaged therewith, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The hammer 1G is provided with an integral tail 25 and this tail isprovided near its extremity with a slot 2G. This slot receives a pin 2Ton the under side of the pan and limits the movement of the hammer whenit is rotated about the pivot pin 17. It will bring the hammer to restin a lcentral or alining position under the keeper. A similar tail 28 isformed on the keeper 12 which cooperates with a similar stop pin 2S),said tail 2S having a slot 30 similar to the slot 2G. This arrangementfor mounting the keeper and the hammer is adopted in order to facilitatethe placing of the cap on the seat. In order to do this, it is simplynecessary to rotate the hammer and the keeper to one side on theirrespective pivot pins 17 and 13. The cap is then placed on its seat andthe keeper 12 replaced so as to hold it in position. The hammer 1G isthen moved back to its normal position with the head 1S thereof engagingthe under side of the keeper.

When a cartridge is placed in the pocket- 7 its fuse will project overthe position of the cap so that when the cap, which may be an ordinarypercussion cap, is exploded the cartridge will be ignited. If, insteadof using a cartridge, a liash powder 31 is used, this powder isdistributed in the gutter of the pan. When the light is to be flashedthe trigger 21 is pulled downward by means of the handle 2li- In movingdownwardly its linger 2O draws back the hammer 16, as indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 3, and the hammer will then be released so as tost-rike the keeper 12; in this way the hammer drives the point of thekeeper up against the bottom of the cap and the cap will be exploded.

In using the pan it should be held with its side edge disposed towardthe point where the light is to be thrown. In this way a broad sheet orarea of flame is produced with a relatively small quantity of powder,and very good effects are produced. The lower end of the stick l isprovided with a threaded socket 32 which will be of standard size andpitch so as to enable the device to be attached to the head of a tripod.

In order to enable the device to be used to hold and ignite flashsheets, one side of the pan at the pocket 7, is provided with anoutwardly projecting pin or spur 33, and the flash sheet 34 which is tobe ignited, is impaled upon this spur, as shown, so that it hangs in avertical position near the shaft 1. On the adjacent side of the shaft 1,a small opening or bore is provided, which inclines upwardly toward thecenter of the shaft. This bore is adapted to receive a match 3G and itwill'hold in an inclined l l l flash position, as indicated in Fig. 41.-This ar` rangement enables the person. operating the light to get outof the way of the light, or to move over into the field of the lens ofthe camera so as to be included in the picture. In this connectionattention is called to the fact that the match projects considerablybeyond the lower edge of the flash sheet, so that a short period of timewill elapse before the flame reaches the sheet. If a longer time isdesired than will be afforded by a match, then a longer splinter of woodmay be substituted for the match, to be lighted in a similar manner asthe match.

Attention is called to the upward offset or depression formed from theunder side at the cap seat 9. This form is given to the seat so as toinsure that the edges of the cap 15 will be pressed firmly against theedges of the opening 10. In this way a tight closure results, whichprevents any leakage of the powder through the opening.

0n account of the teeheaded screw 3, the pan can evidently be readilyremoved from the shaft, which facilitates the packing of the device intoa small case in which it may be carried.

The slot 23 is formed in the trigger above the middle point thereof, sothat the trigger tends to hang normally with the handle 24 disposeddownwardly. As illustrated in Fig. 5, the shaft l may be provided with aremovable base 37, having a threaded stud 39 received in the socket 32,and the base enables the device to stand upon the camera 38 which takesthe flash-light picture; or the device may be stood upon a table orshelf.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Iletters Patent,-

l. A flash light, comprising an elongated holder adapted to receive aninflammable substance having an opening in the wall thereof and a seatfor a percussion cap formed at said opening, means for holding apercussion cap at saidopening on the exterior of said holder with theedge of said cap disposed on the exterior of the edge of said opening,said cap affording means for clos` ing the openingfrom the outer side,and means for exploding said cap.

2. A flash light having an elongated pan adapted to hold an inflammablepowder, said pan having an opening through the bottom thereof with atransverse bar struck upwardly from said bottom and forming a seat for apercussion cap on the exterior of said pan, a keeper on the under sideof said pan adapted to hold a percussion cap on said seat with the edgeof said cap disposed on the exterior of the edge of said opening, andmeans for exploding said percussion cap.

3. A flash light comprising a pan having an enlarged middle portionforming a pocket to receive a flash cartridge and arms of reduced widthprojecting from said pocket, said pan having a seat for a percussion capadjacent to said pocket, means for holding percussion cap on said seat,and means for exploding said cap.

4. A flash light comprising a shaft, a pan attached to said shaft andextending laterally therefrom, said pan having a seat for a percussioncap struck up from the under side thereof, a laterally movable keeperadapted to engage the cap and retain the same on said seat, and a hammeradapted to strike said keeper to explode said cap.

5. A flash light having a pan adapted to hold an inflammable powder,said pan having an opening therethrough with an upwardly offsettransverse bar forming a seat for a percussion cap, and means carried bysaid pan for holding a percussion cap against said bar and against theunder side of said bottom, closing said opening.

G. A flash light having a shaft, a pan supported on said shaft andadapted to hold an inflammable substance, said pan having means at theedge thereof for supporting a flash sheet, said shaft having means forsupporting an inflammable stick in a position to ignite the lower edgeof the sheet.

In testimony whereof I have lsigned my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY A. VHITFIELD. l/Vitnesses F. D. AMMEN, JOHN P. Davis.

